“You don’t have anything to worry about. You’re a priority here.” Warriors owner Joe Lacob had to highlight Brandin Podziemski’s importance to show that what happened with Klay wouldn’t happen to the youngster. After all, since last season itself, Podz had gotten a more important role. While his 2024 pre-season debut may not have yielded the expected result, he was trusted with minutes against the Kings. Unfortunately, despite the faith, the player may have ended up calling it quits early because of unforeseen circumstances.

As per NBA reporter Allen Stiles, Brandin Podziemski has headed to the locker room, after unexpectedly getting hit in the face/mouth. Occurring in the second quarter, his hard collision with Alex Len paused the game after he made only 3 points in 11 minutes.

Fortunately, the shooting guard/point guard wasn’t gone for long. He returned in the second half and managed to take his playing time to 17 minutes by the middle of the third quarter. While his number of points remained at 3, he was able to record 4 assists through the first 4 minutes and 32 seconds of the third quarter. On top of that, he had 0 turnovers at the time! All of this is making a significant contribution to helping the Warriors maintain their lead, though, barely.

Brandin Podziemski has relatively remained injury-free during this early stage of his career. While he did deal with issues related to his back, an illness, and his knee in a 4-month period, he was still present for 74 regular season games and started in 28 of them.

With Klay Thompson gone, the shift in the depth chart has now made Podz the primary shooting guard. Therefore, the player needs to keep his health on the same level as last year, if not better, if Stephen Curry and Co. need to possess any chance of securing the championship title this time. Furthermore, staying healthy is the only way for him to achieve the goals he has set for himself.

Amid highlighting not wanting bad blood with Klay Thompson, Brandin Podziemski reveals his wish to win “Most Improved Player”

Back in July, when Klay Thompson’s exit was still fresh in the minds of Bay Area fans and players, Brandin Podziemski revealed that he attempted to make amends with the Splash Brother. After all, his elevation in the rookie season came at the now-Mavs star’s expense. This caused him to reveal, “I made sure he was okay with it. You don’t want internal bad blood between teammates when it’s not something you can necessarily control.” Now, with that chapter closing itself, Podz has some bold plans for 2024-25.

“Individually, I want to be able to be in the conversation and win Most Improved Player of the Year,” said the Warriors player, highlighting the upcoming All-Star game. “I want to partake in the Rising Stars game again because it’s San Francisco next year. I want to participate in the Skills Challenge. That would be fun.”

Playing as a starter, the eyes of Bay Area fans will be on Brandin Podziemski. The young hooper will be under heavy observation to determine not only if he can help the team during the ongoing season, but whether he is someone to be relied upon after Stephen Curry’s exit. If there is one thing that can affect his prowess, it is injuries.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.